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In today’s sophisticated digital marketplace, people have more options and more opportunities to test and compare products and services before they make a decision. When you develop a marketing strategy, you need to take into account that your target market has more choices than ever. You have to adapt to a new style of marketing that is more authentic and more people-oriented. It’s time to stop making these marketing fails in your modern-day business because they have long stopped bringing any results and could be potentially damaging to your brand. Keep these marketing no-no’s in mind as you develop your marketing plan: Fabricating Telemarketing Direct mail marketing Spam Intuition Selling over dialogue Unreachable Poor content Fake testimonials 01. Marketing fail - fabricating In the past, online consumers were way more gullible; you could easily funnel them to your landing pages by playing on their fears and creating a false need. Today’s consumer can see right through half-truths in marketing messages and go directly to sites that offer real information, products or services. 02. Marketing fail - telemarketing Avoid this at all costs. You won’t even get one bite and you’ll embarrass yourself. Chances are your call will initially be screened thanks to caller ID and many times will go unanswered. Nobody wants to be read from a script about a new and exciting exclusive offer available only through you. 03. Marketing fail - Direct mailing Direct mail is completely ineffective unless you know everyone on your mailing list and their buying habits, which is highly unlikely. If you do send snail mail, make sure it’s in the form of a letter, not a postcard and be sure to offer something of value. Giving a free sample and a coupon still works, but not for every type of customer or business. 04. Marketing fail - Spam It’s crucial that your emailing list be streamlined to contain only members of your target audience. Segment your audience into different customer types, and send out only content that is relevant to their interests and needs. 05. Marketing fail - relying on intuition instead of relying on hard data and stats. Those who do not test and analyze are destined for failure. In order to produce results you need to focus on that which has proven to be successful, and you can’t do that without controlled testing of promotions and thorough evaluations of your available stats. 06. Marketing fail - selling over dialogue You must communicate with your audience, don’t just show them adverts. If you focus too much on selling, you won’t get very far. Open a dialogue with your audience and connect with them. 07. Marketing fail - being unreachable Never underestimate the customer’s need to reach you. Many clients will not even consider your business seriously if you don’t display at least two contact options on your website. By allowing them to get in touch easily you are creating reliability and loyalty. 08. Marketing fail - poor content Writing crappy keyword-stuffed content instead of providing worthy and useful information. Long gone are the days when search engines couldn’t tell good content from bad. Remaining in the top 10 search results requires top quality content with value being placed on the number of shares your articles have achieved as opposed to the number of backlinks as in the past. 09. Marketing fail - fake testimonials. It is essential to offer third party credibility. People need to know someone they trust recommends you as well.

When first starting a business, you may focus on a marketing strategy aimed at a specific target audience. Once your brand experiences that satisfying initial success, it's only natural to want to build upon it. In fact, many brands start developing revenue streams and casting a wider net in their market. But what if that next step ends up becoming a misstep and customers lose trust and respect for your brand? Enter, the dreaded brand dilution—a stretch so large that customers no longer recognize the brand they once favored over all others. In this post, we’ll break down what exactly brand dilution means, the common causes of it, and how to save your brand from losing value. Tip: Want to avoid brand dilution? Create a logo that clearly represents your brand upfront. What is brand dilution? Brand dilution happens when a brand fails to live up to customers’ expectations and, as a result, they negatively perceive the company's value, quality and authenticity. However it happens, the change is usually wildly out of character for the brand or out of sync with their original brand values. As a result, customers feel confused and betrayed. Think of it like a diluted alcoholic beverage: Too much dilution from a mixer and the drink will become weak and the flavor muddled. The customer might even feel like the bar or restaurant overcharged them and decide not to return—even if they were once regulars. Research backs this up. InnerView and FocusVision found that brand dilution leads 51% of customers to feel confused and 49% of them to consider alternatives options. Brands spend a lot of time developing their branding because perception matters business. By maintaining a positive brand reputation, a brand can increase its sales and maintain its loyal customer base. Brand dilution can easily undo all of this, though. When does brand dilution occur? When does brand dilution negatively impact one’s brand image? These common scenarios can lead to the watering down or tainting of a brand’s reputation: A brand releases an unrelated product or enters a different market Brands become successful when they have a clear message, a valuable product and a relatable brand identity. As they pursue greater profitability, they have a choice: They can expand by creating products or services that extend the value of their current offering. On the other hand, they can move away from what made customers fall in love with them and try something new. Brand extension in and of itself is fine. However, when the extension makes no sense given the brand's context and history, it confuses customers and can negatively impacts a company's integrity. A brand licenses their product or service to someone else To find success, your business must deliver a consistent and predictable experience. However, the licensing of one’s product or service to another company can diminish your brand perception. diminished brand perception. This can happen in franchising, asset licensing and even brand collaborations. Brands will license their name and identity to other companies seek, as they know their new venture will generate brand loyalty. However, it doesn’t matter if the original brand has little to no control over the resulting product or experience. Just having their brand name or image attached to it can lead to brand dilution if things go awry. A brand grows too fast and too big to keep up with demand You want your business to grow, but not at the expense of quality. Cutting corners because you don't have enough resources to keep up with the work or because you want to grow for growth's sake will not lead your business anywhere good. When a brand gets sloppy and inconsistent, many business factors can suffer as a result. Product quality may drop, customer support may suffer or the company may compromise its values. Any dramatic shift in the status quo can alter how customers perceive the brand in the future. Brand dilution examples Brand dilution can happen to everyone—from small businesses to enterprises, and entrepreneurs to major celebrity brands. You may have heard of these notable brand dilution examples: BIC’s disposable pantyhose Today, people know the BIC brand for its ballpoint pens, lighters and razors. What do these products all have in common? They’re dependable, simple products that you can regularly dispose of and replace thanks to the multipacks you buy them in. In 1976, however, BIC decided to branch out into disposable pantyhose. As Brand Failures blog shares a quote from marketing writer Al Ries that perfectly nails down the biggest problem with this brand extension: “If you have a powerful perception for one class of product, it becomes almost impossible to extend that perception to a different class. Names have power, but only in the camp in which they have credentials and when they get out of their camp, when they lose focus, they also lose their power.” Pepsi’s collaboration with Madonna In 1989, Pepsi paid Madonna $5 million for a year-long contract. During that time, Pepsi was set to sponsor the iconic star’s tour and run ads featuring her. Problems with their partnership arose after she released her "Like a Prayer" video for the day after their first ad ran. As AP News reported at the time: “Spokesman Tod MacKenzie said Pepsi was hearing from consumers who confused the song and video, complaining to Pepsi about the music video because they thought it was Pepsi’s commercial.” Essentially, the timing caused Pepsi’s brand to become entwined with Madonna’s image. Despite their on-brand commercial with Madonna, people started to boycott Pepsi. Simply attaching the controversial artist with its brand to cost Pepsi some brand equity. To resolve it, they pulled the existing ad and terminated any future ones with Madonna. Elizabeth Berkley does Showgirls A study in the Journal of Marketing Research claims consumers carry brand associations with celebrities in the same way they do products, and that those associations can positively or negatively affect how they perceive an upcoming movie or television show. “Our rationale is as follows: First, in our study context, the brand name of the movie star not only provides the movie with some immediate consumer base (i.e., loyal fans of the movie star) but also serves as a signal to convey information about the expected quality of the movie. This rationale is consistent with previous findings that when a branded component appears in a new product, it facilitates the acquisition of initial consumer awareness and provides an endorsement of product quality.” As such, celebrities are just as susceptible to brand dilution as businesses. Take the example of Elizabeth Berkley. She made a name for herself doing wholesome TV movies and shows, with her most notable role as Jessie Spano in Saved by the Bell. After four-plus years playing the ambitious character, she took on the lead role of Nomi Malone in the provocative film Showgirls. Going from a quirky teen comedy show to an NC-17 film did not sit well with her audience. As Berkley explained to People.com: “Of course it was disappointing that it didn't do well, but there was so much cruelty around it. I was bullied. And I didn't understand why I was being blamed. The job of an actor is to fulfill the vision of the director. And I did everything I was supposed to do.” The leaked Starbucks memo In 2007, Nation’s Restaurant News reported on the leaking of an internal memo written by Starbucks’s co-founder Howard Schultz. The post provides some context on the leaked message: “Schultz wondered if some of the decisions of the past 10 years that helped the chain advance from fewer than 1,000 to more than 13,000 locations worldwide had led to a ‘commoditization of our brand.’ He lamented more ‘sterile, cookie-cutter’ store environments, their loss of coffee aroma since the adoption of flavor-lock bags, and the diminished service theatrics that came with a switch to robotic espresso machines.” While Starbucks was and still is one of the top coffeehouse brands in the world, Schultz rightly wondered if brand dilution had set in. Around that time, Starbucks was losing ground to companies like Dunkin’ and McDonald’s for the very reasons he states in the memo. In this case, franchising didn't cause brand dilution, as all the locations followed the same playbook. The problem was the playbook itself—the brand had consistently lowered product quality as it attempted to scale its operation. How to avoid brand dilution Part of good brand management is making strategic decisions—especially when extending the business in a new direction. Avoid brand dilution as you grow by following these management strategies: 01. Hold tightly to your core values and messaging Make a list of your brand values and place them in a visible location. Before you commit to any new product developments or brand changes, make sure they uphold these values, messaging and vision. 02. Choose your partners wisely The same holds true if you license your brand or collaborate with influencers or brand ambassadors. If a potential partner can't reflect your brand image, then you shouldn’t work with them. It will take much more time and money to rebuild what you lost than passing on the opportunity in the first place. 03. Scale slowly Achieving foundational success can be exciting. However, trying to race to the finish line often leads brands to cut corners and sacrifice quality and user experience for anticipated profitability. Carefully plan out what you'll do and take each step slowly and carefully. 04. Always do user research and testing before making any changes Just as you’d show your users a rebranding of your website before implementing any changes, you should do the same before you grow your brand. After all, you’re attaching your brand name to a new product, partnership or venture because you assume that your loyal customers will follow whatever you do. The only way to ensure that you won’t confuse or disappoint them is by getting their direct input through research and testing.

CTAs, or calls to action, are ubiquitous on the web. Every banner ad, blog post and knowledge base article will finish off with a directive about where to click. When writing in the online realm, we not only want to inform and delight our users, we also want to show them what their next step should be – in the clearest way possible. Through tests, trial and error, and more than a decade of experience, we’ve honed in on some best practices when it comes to CTAs, and learned the hard way what doesn’t work. Following these guidelines – and steering clear of these pitfalls – has helped us create a consistent style when it comes to writing CTAs. It helps us streamline what we do, provide clarity to our audience, and – best of all – it helps us get clicks. Here’s an inside look at some of our rules of thumb when it comes to writing CTAs: 01. Don’t say, “click here” Though this call-to-action example is about as clear and concise as you can get, we’ve found it falls short because it tells users that they should click, but not why. Rather than go for this classic (and boring) CTA, we opt for benefit-driven CTAs that show our users where they’re going, why they should go there and what they’ll get from doing so. 02. The problem with, “Do this, this and this” A common error we’ve come across is too many ideas in one CTA. Not only does this make the CTA long and unwieldy, but it also confuses users. If you ask visitors to do 2 or even 3 things in a CTA, they won’t know which action to take, or why they should click at all. Write CTAs with just one directive. And if you need to provide more information, do it in your body text. This is not just great for the users; it will also help you when the time comes to measure the effectiveness of your CTA. 03. Embrace action words Convincing users to take action depends on many factors, from how attractive your offer or product is to the appeal of your design and text. But a good, action-oriented CTA can go a long way to giving your visitors the extra little push they need to click, call, or send you an email. Start your CTAs with a verb – an action word that helps to sell users on the benefit of clicking. 04. Match the tone and voice of your text It’s easy to write a CTA that’s cute, funny, or simply looks right in the space that the designer has given you. But your CTA should tell the same story as the rest of your text – and use the same language to do it. Otherwise, your users can get confused or annoyed, and they may simply give up and click away from the page without taking action. So while it may be tempting to make every CTA, “Click here for world domination,” stick to the story you’re telling. 05. Don’t try too hard to sell We’ve all experienced the moment when someone tried a bit too hard to sell us something. This makes most of us pretty uncomfortable, and oftentimes leaves us with a lasting, negative view of the brand. Moreover, it smacks of desperation and probably decreases the chances we’ll ever purchase from that business. At Wix, one of our core values is “tell, don’t sell,” and we carry this through to the way we write our CTAs. We want our users to make choices based on our products, their merit, and how we describe them. And we’ve found that trying too hard to sell them on a product can quickly backfire, giving them instead a feeling of suspicion or mistrust. While you may find that the CTA, “Buy It Right Now,” works for you, don’t overuse it. Instead, focus on what users have to gain. You can keep words that create a sense of urgency, however, particularly if what you’re promoting comes with an expiration date. Including “today” and “now” in your CTA makes a lot of sense when you’re running a sale. Let’s wrap it up The way you use CTAs depends on what type of material you’re creating and what you want to achieve. That being said, it’s vital that you measure your CTAs. Determine what’s getting your users to click and what they’re not interacting with. This will give you a really good idea of what works – and what doesn’t – for your brand. Did you like this article? Subscribe to the Wix Content Blog for your dose of free expert writing tips, ideas and inspiration. You won’t regret it! You can also check out this guide for more beginner CTA tips. Ready to establish a powerful online presence? Create a website with Wix today!

The internet is a living thing. It changes, evolves and responds to live events. With technology constantly developing, one can blink and miss the current golden age of the latest online phenomenon. So if you suffered from a really long blink during the last decade, give or take, you might have missed the divine wonders that go by the name – “memes.” Before we begin with this “everything you wanted to know about memes, but were too afraid to ask” guide, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page regarding the pronunciation of this funny word. The word “meme” is pronounced with a long “e,” like the word “seem,” just with an “m” instead of the “s.” Afraid you won’t remember the right pronunciation and cause havoc mixed with embarrassment if the subject comes up during the next family dinner? Remember this sentence: “Low self-esteem? Every night the same bad dream? No one wants to join your team? Don’t worry, it’s not extreme. Have a cup of ice cream and send someone you like a funny MEME.” We could have just given you a link to a recording of someone saying the word, but where’s the fun in that? Not everything can be as easy as creating a website. What are memes? The original “meme” was a term coined by Richard Dawkins to describe how cultural information spreads. However, unless you’re wandering through the halls of the nearby sociology school, when someone mentions the word “meme,” they’re probably referring to a funny image or a video being shared on social media. The common use of the word “meme,” usually refers to the “internet meme,” a subset of the general meme concept. Remember that thick book you used as a weapon during fights between you and your brother? Well, dictionaries have other purposes. One of them is to provide us with dry but informative definitions. Case in point: Most common internet memes are image macros – photos with a bold caption written in Impact font. The text will usually be humorous or sarcastic. Aside from this familiar form, memes can also be a video, GIF, saying, an event or pretty much anything that can be copied or slightly changed and go viral across the web. Why do we use them? If you got this far, you probably understand what memes are, so the next question in line is, why do so many people use them around the world every day? Simply put, they are the internet’s inside jokes. They convey a feeling of familiarity and relevance, being a part of something bigger. The cultural knowledge you gained from years of watching television and browsing social media channels has now made it possible for you to understand and enjoy this joke. That’s the secret ingredient that turns memes from regular jokes to viral material. There are few more reasons why memes are one of the go-to moves of the average social media user, as well as your more seasoned social media influencer: They're eye-catching. They enable you to express complex ideas through a simple concept by relying on the meme context, origin and common use. They have a viral potential. They push you to paint your creative thoughts in more humorous colors. They're easy to create. How to use memes The most vital part of using memes is to understand the context of the content you’re sharing and to know how to leverage its full meaning. The best way to do so is by spending some quality time with your best pal Facebook, and start putting some work into the scrolling wheel. If your Facebook friends prefer a wild bingo night over sharing funny memes, you can always visit Know Your Meme. This website documents internet memes and serves as a knowledge hub about their origins. You can browse the most popular memes and check out common uses of each one. Examples of the best memes We can continue with more detailed descriptions of meme usage, but sometimes, it’s better to show the flying, yellow elephant than to talk about it. For this showcase, we decided to focus on image macros, so “Rickrolling,” “Be Like Bill,” “All Your Base Are Belong To Us,” “Spinning Dancer Illusion,” “Double Rainbow Guy” or “Dancing Baby” – we’re sorry, but don’t wait for an invitation to this party. Here are 10 examples of the web’s greatest, funniest and most popular image macro memes: 01. Bad Luck Brian 02. First World Problems 03. (Captain Picard) Facepalm 04. One Does Not Simply 05. Philosoraptor 06. What if I Told You 07. Success Kid 08. Condescending Wonka 09. Conspiracy Keanu 10. X, X Everywhere How to create memes Wondering how to create a meme by yourself? Well, you can sleep late and prepare the pancakes, because it’s easy like a Sunday morning. Meme generators are scattered all over the web like flyers on the sidewalk, just next to the guy who hands them out. They’re free, simple, accessible and they don’t require any kind of software installation. No need to waste time on choosing a font or trying to center the text – all of these preferences are already set. Because we don’t want to exhaust your tired fingers with typing “Meme Generator” on Google, here are some great resources you should try: imgur.com/memegen – A meme generator by Imgur, the popular free image hosting platform. Straightforward and simple. https://imgflip.com/memegenerator – Fast, clear and easy to use. Allows users to create “private” downloadable memes that won’t go online unless you decide to publish them. The evolution of memes Internet memes have evolved, hand in hand with the rise and transformation of the internet. From the Hamster dance meme of the mid-1990's, to the rise of TikTok today, memes have grown in popularity and evolved into almost an art form of their own. Today memes encompass a range of styles and types from dank memes, to deep fried memes, to those inspired by surrealism. Some brands have even decided to get involved in the world of memetic marketing, which is using memes for marketing. Gucci did it as early as 2017 with their tfw gucci watch campaign which saw them using memes on Instagram as part of their marketing efforts. Love it or hate it, it generated a lot of interest and attention - which is what it's all about anyway, right? What are memes FAQ